Augusta National Golf Club Allowing Women to Join Is Victory for Our Daughters

I'm sure I'm not the only mother of two little girls who sometimes wonders about the world that I'm raising them in. Given the recent controversy over Rep. Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" comments, when it seems like everything about their small bodies is up for debate, the New York Times report that the Augusta National Golf Club has invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina business woman Darla Moore to join their prestigious organization is a breath of fresh air.

Augusta National is the golf club that hosts the prestigious Masters tournament. It's the kind of club that you can't apply to join: Instead, a small committee invites members after a long and secretive selection process. Although women have been allowed to golf at the course as guests of members, they have never been allowed to be members before. This has angered a lot of people: Even President Barack Obama stated back in April that the club should invite women. The club said that it has been looking at these two invitations for quite some time, but it was not willing to rush the selection process in response to media attention.

This decision, made on the heels of Akin's offensive comments, highlights the fact that the war on women isn't raging everywhere. This sort of easing by the Old Guard, ceding that women do have a place even in the oldest establishments, gives us all more room to talk to our daughters about the heights that they can achieve.

A few weeks ago, my four-year-old, Lulu, was hanging out with me while I was browsing Facebook. We saw a piece from the Huffington Post about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; during an interview, she was asked who designed her suits. She fired back, asking if the interviewer would ever ask that question of a man. I was laughing about her forthrightness, and Lulu asked me who she was. It prompted me to talk to her about how this lady was one of the most powerful ladies in our country, about how she worked hard to keep us all safe, about how people had said that she couldn't do this job. But she could, and she is.

When I get home tonight, I'm going to share this story with her, too. I'll tell her about how the Augusta National Golf Club today decided to invite two women, one of them a woman of color, to join their ranks. I'll tell her that the fight is not over, that there is a lot more that women need to do to be actually counted as equal in our world. But I will use this day to remind her that when the world chooses to limit her or restrict her because of her gender, it's the world that's in the wrong, not her.

Where do you look to find positive, strong role models for your girls? Tell us below in the comments section!

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Kristine Croto

Kristine Croto is a mom raising two kids in small(ish) town in Vermont. With an eye towards attachment parenting practices, but an ultimate belief that whatever stops the crying and doesn't break the kiddos is the way to go, she tries to walk the walk half as well as she talks the talk on Ravelry.com's parenting forums.

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